The head of the parliamentary committee on foreign policy, MP from the “Servant of the People” faction Oleksandr Merezhko stated the need for a complete reboot of the Ukrainian government. Speaking on air, he emphasized that the scale of the corruption scandal related to the so-called “Mindyich tapes” raises serious doubts about the integrity of several officials. According to Merezhko, the exact number of government officials involved in these recordings is still unknown, so the government should be dismissed “in any case.”
This is reported by Kyiv24
MP’s Position on Personnel Decisions
The MP stressed that he has already joined the collection of signatures for the government’s resignation, initiated by opposition forces. He noted that in the context of the deteriorating situation in the country, the key values remain the trust of citizens in the authorities and the preservation of unity. In his opinion, it is the dialogue between different political forces that will help find solutions in this crisis.
“Yes, I signed… Right now, there are two main values that must be preserved at all costs: the trust of the people in the authorities and unity. And here I see no contradictions with the opposition. We need to look for a way out together, we need to have a dialogue, because the situation is very complicated and worsening,” said Merezhko.
Separately, Merezhko commented on the possible resignation of the head of the President’s Office Andriy Yermak. He emphasized that the decision should be made by the head of state, but if Yermak’s voice is involved in the investigation, it will become a serious problem for the authorities.
Investigation of the Corruption Scheme and Government Reaction
The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine reported on November 10 about the exposure of an organized criminal group that was systematically receiving bribes from contractors of the state enterprise “Energoatom.” The amount of illegal benefits ranged from 10% to 15% of the contract sums.
As part of this case, eight individuals have been announced as suspects. According to law enforcement sources, among the suspects are businessman Timur Mindyich (code name “Carlson”), former advisor to the Minister of Energy Ihor Mironyuk (“Rocket”), executive director for security at “Energoatom” Dmytro Basov (“Tenor”), as well as Oleksandr Tsukerman (“Sugar Man”), Ihor Fursenko (“Ryoshik”), Lesya Ustymenko, and Lyudmyla Zorina. Later, suspicion of illegal enrichment was also announced against former Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov.
Chernyshov’s lawyers deny their client’s involvement in the scheme, stating that the character “Che Guevara” in the recordings has no relation to him, and there was no communication in which Chernyshov participated. Meanwhile, MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak disclosed information that under the pseudonym “Ali Baba” in the NABU tapes, Andriy Yermak may be mentioned.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has already announced the launch of reforms to restructure the management system of the energy sector and its comprehensive cleansing and renewal.